Vehicle Excise Duty Licences

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicle excise duty licences were paid in each band, including goods vehicles, for the most recently available year; and how many licences in each band were paid for by  (a) private individuals and  (b) incorporated businesses.

Stephen Ladyman: DVLA estimates the number of vehicle licences issued within each band for the "Private and Light Goods" tax class, as the following table:
	
		
			  Estimate of licences issued for Private and Light Goods vehicles, 2004-05 
			  Class  Licences issued 
			 Band A 543 
			 Band B 392,320 
			 Band C 4,710,235 
			 Band D 3,907,106 
			 Band E 3,039,718 
			 Band F 2,945,879 
			 Band G 1,618,549 
			 Cars registered before 1 March 2001 22,388,865 
			 Total 39,003,215 
		
	
	Additionally, 554,153 licences were issued for Heavy Goods Vehicles in 2004-05. No statistical information is available to indicate how many licences in each band were paid for by  (a) private individuals and  (b) incorporated businesses.
	[Continued in Col. 277W]

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many tax credit awards were made to  (a) people subject to immigration control,  (b) asylum seekers,  (c) foreign students,  (d) illegal immigrants and  (e) foreigners on expired visas in each quarter from April 2003 to June 2006; what the cost of these awards was in each case; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of the easement of tax credit verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met between March 2003 and December 2004; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many tax credit applications failed verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met but were allowed to proceed to being processed in each month from April 2003 to January 2005; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  in how many tax credit cases failures of verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met were  (a) investigated and  (b) not investigated in each month since December 2004;
	(5)  which categories of tax credit claimant fail verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  how many applications for tax credits failed verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met between April 2002 and April 2003; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  how many tax credit claims failed verification rules in each  (a) month and  (b) quarter since April 2002; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  which  (a) Minister and  (b) official (i) recommended and (ii) approved the easement of tax credit verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met in 2003; for what reasons it was introduced; and if he will make a statement;
	(9)  if he will place in the Library copies of each HM Customs and Revenue newsboard item relating to tax credits; and on what date each was posted;
	(10)  how many tax credit verification rules have been  (a) suspended and  (b) eased since August 2002; and for what (i) reasons and (ii) period in each case;
	(11)  whether the easement of tax credit verification rule 12 (residency criteria not met) meant that the provisions in the Tax Credit (Immigration) Regulations 2003 were not implemented; and if he will make a statement;
	(12)  what factors were taken into account when deciding not to investigate cases where tax credit verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met was failed;
	(13)  whether an assessment of the  (a) cost and  (b) staffing levels required to meet the volumes of claims failing verification rule 12 Residency Criteria not met was made prior to the decision to ease the rule from April 2003 to December 2004; and if he will make a statement;
	(14)  how many awards of tax credits to people failing residency rules between April 2003 and December 2004 have been  (a) recovered and  (b) written off;
	(15)  what advice he received on the easement of tax credit residency rules; and on what dates the advice was given.

Dawn Primarolo: Tax credits follows the policy set by the Home Office, that those who have not established their right to remain permanently in the UK should not have welfare provision on the same basis as those whose citizenship or status here gives them an entitlement to benefits and assistance when in need.
	For this reason, apart from specified circumstances set out in the Tax Credits (Immigration) Regulations 2003, persons subject to immigration control are not eligible for tax credits.
	The cost of the easement is included within tax credit remissions disclosed in HMRC's published accounts. Where the department has identified payments made in error, it has terminated the award so there
	Code of practice 26 sets out HMRC's established practice not to recover amounts paid out due to official error where the claimant could reasonably have assumed the payment was correct.
	The remaining information requested could be produced only at disproportionate cost.